Americans are apparently not messing around this year when it comes to filing their taxes and getting their refunds. Nearly 35 million tax returns were filed in just the first week the IRS was accepting them.
Last year included a postponed tax return deadline and delayed refunds because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lingering issues, including participating in mailing out stimulus checks to Americans, meant the Internal Revenue Service delayed the date they started to accept returns in 2021 by a few weeks, starting mid-February as opposed to late January.
Between Feb. 12 and Feb. 19, the first week they were accepting tax returns, the IRS received34,693,000 tax returns.
In the first week of processing returns in 2020, before the pandemic was widespread in this country, the agency only received15,777,000 tax returns.
READ MORE: Get help on how to electronically file taxes for free
The agency is also reportingmore than double the amount of web traffic to IRS.gov as compared to last year.
According to the IRS, the average refund right now is about $2,920.
Filing a tax return is the only way for people who have not received a stimulus check, or received the wrong amount, to receive what is owed to them.
Tax returns for the majority of Americans are due by April 15. Last month, the IRS granted an extension for all individuals and businesses operating in Texas and counties in nearby states declared disaster areas by FEMA because of winter storms.
